Kaval's Kickoff: Demolition is done at stadium site

What an exciting 2-0 win by the Quakes this weekend against the former Quakes! Once again our loyal Quakes fans represented in some difficult weather conditions to help the team get another critical win.

All day Saturday the weather looked like another deluge was on its way. I was getting ready to design the "Great Deluge II" pin when, lo and behold, the weather cleared about 30 minutes before the match and we ended up with some decent conditions to notch our third home win in-a-row. I want to personally thank all the fans for gutting it out and getting out to Buck Shaw for the match. I think when most fans left their homes it was still pouring and folks were probably expecting to get drenched. We were all rewarded with limited rain and a wonderful performance on the pitch.

I thought that the stadium had an electric atmosphere this weekend. Many weekends it is really the supporters groups (Casbah and Ultras) leading the charge. This match had not only solid Supporters Section energy but also some pretty rowdy chants and cheering from other parts in the stadium. The “GO QUAKES” chant had the place going. While it may not have been Krazy George levels of madness, I definitely saw a spark that we can collectively build on to create an even stronger home field advantage. As part of that experience, the Casbah is encouraging fans to participate in their chants several times during the match. We included the words on the Jumbotron, but I think we need to get everyone on the same page in terms of the melody and the lyrics. We plan on having a special Quakes pregame show in the Epicenter where we practice some of the songs to help get everyone involved. Together, we can create an environment that can give our club the edge every time we play at home.

As folks may have noticed, the FMC buildings have been totally demolished and the new stadium site is flat as a pancake. It has a very different feel over at the Nutilite Training Facility without the run down FMC Buildings. Devcon Construction did a great job on the demolition and, as always, they are a pleasure to work with. I want to give a special shout out to Ron Woodrum from Devcon who managed the demolition project.

The next step in the process is the PD Permit with the city and the planning commission. Those meetings are underway and I hope to have additional information this month on our progress. This will likely include more detailed renderings of the complex. As I have explained before, the land is already zoned for a stadium, but must go through a more specific PD Permit process to ensure that the design adheres to the city planning commission's guidelines and building code requirements. This is a standard process in any building project like the new stadium complex. The City of San Jose has been a fabulous partner on our stadium and associated development project and we look forward to finalizing the PD Permit process with them.